Last Sunday (16th June) I drove over to Glasgow for the Men's 10k. I was given the chance to run this race courtesy of Freestak and GSi Events.
I'd been away the week before at a conference in Denmark and didn't get back to Edinburgh until late Friday evening so prep for the race wasn't ideal but considering my recent decision to step back from coached running, I wasn't expecting much from this race.
The aim was to enjoy it, run hard and just take in the atmosphere.
I've never ran this course or this race in Glasgow. I ran the Edinburgh version last year and really enjoyed it.
With limited parking at the race start (Riverside Museum) I decide to head over early and so I jumped in the car and arrived at the car park about 7:30am. The race didnt start until 9:30am! I was a bit early but at least I was parked and I could sit in the car and relax.
The parking unfortunately wasn't free, it seems most of Glasgow is pay and display, even on a Sunday so I paid for 3 hours (after sitting in the car for an hour!) and decided to go and pick up my race number. I was a late entry and so my number was waiting for me inside the Museum.
Race number collected, I headed back to the car as it was raining pretty heavy, and pulled on my vest, racing shoes and got ready for a warm up.
A nice easy mile for the warm up, I got back to the car, picked up my bag and headed to the baggage trucks to drop off my bag. I arrived at the trucks just as they were closing them up! They were sharp at closing them. Thankfully I was allowed to throw my bag on to the truck and my bag would meet me at the finish line at George Square.
After waiting in my start pen for a few minutes, we were given a countdown and we were off. Before leaving the car I did a quick calculation that I would need to run 6:33min/mi (4:04min/km) pace to get sub 40mins. I felt this was doable, even with the lack of race specific training I've been doing.
I was feeling pretty good and the first mile popped up on my watch 6:20min/mi (3:56min/km) - I was happy with that. The pace felt good and I was planning to run as much by feel as I could.
Mile 2 came in at 6:26min/mi (3:59min/km) still feeling good and the course was really enjoyable. Plenty of space for all the runners, pockets of spectators out cheering, even in the rain. It was a great feeling.
Mile 3 and we had to run over the Squiggly Bridge, over the Clyde, along some cobbled paths and then back over the Clyde on the King George V Bridge. The cobbles weren't great to run on and with it raining, they were slightly slippery. We then headed up in to the city centre which is usually really busy shopping streets but on a Sunday morning it was nice and quiet and it was really unique to run this section of Glasgow.
I passed the 5k marker and spotted that my time was slower than 40mins pace. I was slightly confused as I was ahead of schedule according to my calculated pace.
Mile 4 and pace was 6:25min/mi (3:59min/km) and to my suprise, coming in to Glasgow Green I heard a group of people shout my name. I had to look twice and then I realised that my sister-in-law, her husband and a couple of other friends had come out to cheer me on. It was really nice and a great boost when I really needed it.
Mile 5 and I was starting to struggle. I found running around the paths of Glasgow Green tiring. A number of corners and turns took their toll and although there are no hills on the course, it was rolling enough to make an impact. My watch pinged up 6:55min/mi (4:17min/km) and I wasn't surprised. I was running as hard as I could but I was getting tired.
Mile 6 I got another shout from Marion and Co. and it was now time to head back in to town, heading back towards George Square. I felt this mile was the longest. I don't know Glasgow that well and every turn I thought, this must be the end. It wasn't.
Glasgow is very built up and you can't see very far ahead of you. It's built on a grid and so we had to go left, the right, the left, then right to make our way up the grid to the finish.
Pushing as hard as I could, my watch told me 6 miles had come past, I was now in to the 40th minute and the finish wasn't anywhere to be seen. I just kept on going as hard as I could and then after a final right hand turn, I was in a crowded street and I could see the finish line diagonally across from me. One more left hand turn and I was on the finish straight.
I crossed the line in 41mins exactly. A minute off where I wanted to be but at the same time, I couldn't have ran it any harder.
So the race was done and I was happy. I ran hard, I felt I ran it well. Yes I lost some pace in Glasgow Green but overall, I was happy.
I picked up my goodie bag and started the slow jog back to the car, according to Google Maps, the Riverside Museum was 2 miles away. I head back along the course and took some photos and for some reason I thought I better check for my car key. This was after running a mile away from the finish area.
This was when I realised I hadn't picked up my bag from the baggage trucks! My car key, dry tshirt and jacket were all a mile away, back at the finish.
I turned around and jogged back and then realised why I had forgotten about my bag. I was looking for bag trucks but all the bags had been offloaded on to the pavement. I just hadn't seem them and after racing hard, my head wasn't with it.
I picked up my bag, pulled on my dry kit and started the 2 mile jog back to the car.
It's a great race. I will do it again next year for sure. Now I know the course I'll be a bit more prepared for Glasgow Green. What about the pacing? Why didn't I get sub 40 after checking my target pace. Well, I'd put the distance in to my phone as 6.1 miles, not 6.2 miles which is what 10k is!
To get sub 40, I needed to run 6:27min/mi (4:00min/km) not 6:33min/mi (4:04min/km) which I thought I was aiming for. Can you tell I was tired after my busy week.